Touring Vernal Pools
For some reason, the words “vernal pool” sound about as thrilling as a discussion of the ferry shrimp that often live there. Seriously, it’s hard to get excited about these creatures that are hard to see and are neither cute nor fuzzy.
Or, so I thought. Then I learned about sacsplash.org. This organization offers interactive experiences for kids centered around appreciating the outdoors. Currently SacSplash is offering tours of local vernal pools which, when we went, also had surprise appearances by local frogs, raptors, and a small gardner snake.
This is a top notch program, in my opinion. When we first arrived, one of the biologists led a short discussion at Sacsplash Center on the differences between frogs and toads. This included games such as Name That Croacker, where we heard different sounds and had to guess which of the pictured frogs/toads has that voice. They have a critter room that we enjoyed exploring during the break, and then it was off to the vernal pools. We carpooled to a location where, after parking, we walked a short distance across a field to some vernal pools. The class was divided into smaller groups, each getting a knowledgable biologist assigned to it. David, our guide, gave us each a cup to scoop up some water and then helped us identify some of the critters that we found in our water. 
Though most of the kids were older, even my five-year-old was thrilled to continually scoop and find different swimmers in his cup. Our guide was fantastic at talking about some of the other animals that live near and depend on these vernal pools, and the ways you can spot their presence. This was a few hours well-spent. I highly recommend checking them out, but go online to make reservations for the class, as they tend to book up quickly. A $10 donation is requested for each participant.
Photo credit: David Rosen/wildsidephotography.com
This program sounds amazing! I would love to have something like this here in Los Angeles! We don’t get to see much of frogs & toads or vernal pools. Very cool!
What a cool experience! I would love to do that some day. Vernal pools are so rare and its important to teach children the importance of these tiny ecosystems.
Great post – the people at Sacramento Splash are the best! We visited the birds of prey workshop they had a few months ago, learned a lot, and left feeling the same way.